22 Oct, 2012 08:38 AM

The ex-servicemen write to PM and President on OROP

The ex-servicemen Lucknow ave approached the Indian President and Prime Minister with their demand of implementing 'One Rank One Pay' (OROP) with an immediate effect.

The union government had approved and set aside Rs 2,300 crore for the implementation of the one-rank-one-pension - a demand that has been pending for years. This has been a major irritant between the armed forces and the bureaucracy.

As many as 40 former soldiers have written to the Indian President and the PM requesting them to clarify the government's take on the issue to ensure a time-bound implementation of the scheme. The soldiers have also sent a copy to the finance minister, defence minister, leader of opposition, and chief of army staff among others.

This scheme, if implemented, means that personnel retiring at the same rank and putting in the same tenure of service will get the same pension irrespective of the year of retirement. Currently, ex-servicemen who retired before coming in of the Sixth Pay

Commission (SPC) gets less pension than their counterparts who retired under SPC. On implementation the PBORs would get a raise ranging from 9.7 to 13 per cent over the existing pension, and Commissioned Officers would get an increase ranging from 10 to 28 per cent. As a result, the basic pension of a sepoy in group ‘Y’ with 17 years of service would increase by about Rs. 500 a month, of a Naik with 22 years of service by about Rs. 550 and of a Havaldar in Group ‘Y’ with 24 years of service by about Rs. 800, the sources explained. Dearness relief would be payable in addition.

The demand has come after UPA government' announced Rs 2,300- crore package for pensioners in the armed services. Ex-servicemen have however expressed their dissatisfaction over the amount as they feel it has fallen short of their expectations. A retired soldier said, ``The pension-hike is deceptive. The government has wrongly interpreted the term OROP. They have merely made an enhancement in pension.''

There are 18 lakh ex-servicemen in the country today. Of them, about 5.5 lakh, including 80,000 widows, are under the central command. In UP and Uttarakhand alone, the number stands to four lakh. In Lucknow there are nearly 20,000 ex- servicemen.

Source : TOI

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